Amidst Our Youthful Denial
by xx.just.a.contradiction.xx
Summary: Oliver is part of the Order, along with the Weasleys and rest of the gang. Katie, too young, isn’t. When Oliver and the boys get sent off to Bulgaria, it’s the last straw, but then home suddenly gets more interesting, and she finally gets to prove herself
1. A Quaffle To The Head & Other Such

**1.  
A Quaffle To The Head & Other Such Distractions.**

'_We used to dance upon the rooftops of  
one another's dreams;  
__always smiling and ever laughing  
amidst our youthful denial.  
"Life is sweet" you whisper  
as we lie awake at night.  
The world goes crashing past us  
unnoticed and unheard.'_

Grimmauld Place was in chaos.

Order members ran to and fro in disorganised panic, the cracks of Apparating witches and wizards sounded every minute or so, and amidst it all the portrait of Sirius' mother shrieked her usual assorted curses and insults, punctuated now and then by a loud bang or clang, which usually signalled the arrival of Tonks somewhere in the house.

With Dumbledore's death had come an uproar of Death Eater activity, and the Order of the Phoenix – leaderless and disarrayed – was struggling to defend the wizarding world against the increasing evil. To make matters worse, Harry Potter had disappeared, leaving behind nothing more than a letter, in which he'd written that he'd explain everything when he got back – if he did – and a will of sorts, which allotted Grimmauld Place to the continued use of the Order and Buckbeak to Hagrid. Mrs Weasley, indignant as ever, had had to be restrained from taking after the seventeen year-old, and when she found out that her youngest son and his girlfriend had also vanished along with their friend, she'd been beside herself with grief.

'Harry's brave, he'll be fine Mum.' Charlie had assured her as he sat by her lounge chair one evening.

'Yes,' she'd replied with a little sigh, 'but poor Ron isn't as brave… Oh my poor Ronniekins!'

Harry's disappearance was the least of their problems, however, as news reached their ears of a treaty that could potentially doom their chances of ever winning against Voldemort… a treaty to forge an unbreakable alliance between the last contigent of giants and the ever-growing Death Eater army.

But while the adults ran amock, forsaking sleep, food and shelter to save their families and friends, the younger component of the Order were elsewhere, spending their lazy days of school-less freedom playing Quidditch on the Weasley property behind the Burrow…

* * *

'To your left! Your _left_ Katie, not your _right_!'

Overcome with a sense of deja vou, Katie raised an eyebrow at her hovering ex-Captain.  
They were playing five-a-side Quidditch in the paddock, Oliver as Captain for one team, and Charlie as Captain for the other. However, Oliver's overbearing instincts had kicked in, and as such, he was berating Katie and the others on his team endlessly, criticising every move they made.

'I think he thinks this is a Puddlemere game or something.' muttered Fred, who like Katie, Alicia and Bill, had been unfortunate enough to be stuck with Oliver.

'Stop conversing Weasley and go and make sure Charlie doesn't- Argh! For the love of Godric Gryffindor, do I have to do _everything_ myself!?'

Shooting past Katie and Fred, who hadn't moved an inch since he'd started his rant; Oliver emitted something similar to a battle cry and collided with the second-oldest Weasley, who was promptly nearly knocked off his broom.

'Oliver, are you trying to kill Charlie?' Katie sighed tiredly, 'Because even if he dies, his team will still win.'

Laughing loudly at this, Charlie winked at the younger Scotsman and zoomed off, easily throwing the Quaffle past a dozing Bill, who had been napping quietly on the tree branch he was supposed to be guarding.

'WEASLEY!' Oliver exclaimed, answered immediately with four "what!?"s from various places in the air around him.

'You're _allowed_ to use our first names when we're playing Quidditch, you do realise Oliver?' George said casually.

'He was _sleeping_ during a Quid– ' he retorted loudly, interrupted by Katie who, tired of him, borrowed the recently-retrieved Quaffle from Charlie and lobbed it full speed at the irate eighteen year-old's head, knocking him out cold and sending him into a eight-foot tumble from the air to the un-mowed lawn.

'Katie!' Alicia chided with a shake of her head, trying desperately to mask the relieved smile on her face.

'Nice one Kates.' Lee congratulated her with a wink.

'I suppose someone should go and check on him.' Angelina said with a sour look in Oliver's general unconscious direction.

'I didn't mean to hit him that hard.' Katie admitted with a terrified glance downwards, 'What if I've killed him?'

'There wasn't any blood or anything.' Charlie assured her, 'C'mon, you and me'll go and see how the son-of-a-bludger is.'

As they landed, Katie breathed out a huge sigh of relief as Oliver began to twitch on the ground, waking up from his unconsciousness.

'See? You didn't kill him. Mum'll fix him up fine and he'll be able to play again tomorrow.' Charlie said with a smile, cuffing her gently on the side of the head, 'Although knocking him out probably wasn't a good idea, because he'll be - '

'Katie?' Oliver muttered hoarsely.

'Yeah Oliver, I'm here.' Katie said, kneeling down beside him and smiling gently.

'Once I can move all my limbs and not see three of everything, I suggest you make a break for somewhere far away, like Australia perhaps… because if I catch you, I am going to _kill_ you for giving me this bloody migraine.' He growled moodily, making Katie wince and tip-toe away quickly, leaving him in the care of Charlie, who simply gave him a small kick in the ribs and told him to pull his head in.

&&&&&&&

'There's a meeting at Grimmauld Place in fifteen minutes.' Mrs. Weasley informed them all as they trooped into her house, covered in leaves and grass stains, 'Oh goodness me, what on earth happened to you dear?'

Charlie and Bill had just stepped over the threshold with Oliver supported in between them.

'Uh, he had a little run in with a Quaffle.' Katie supplied weakly with a guilty grimace that Oliver noted and scowled at.

'Ah well, let me have a look at you.' Mrs. Weasley said wearily, guiding the burly boy to a seat and inspecting his skull, 'The rest of you be ready to go in ten minutes.'

* * *

'Okay, everybody here?' asked Mr. Weasley as everyone had squished themselves into the tiny kitchenette of Grimmauld Place.

'I don't think we can fit anyone else in, even if we are all here.' replied Roger darkly, squashed in between a grumpy Oliver and rather smelly Mundungus Fletcher.

'Ah, well righto then, lets get to it.' Mr. Weasley hurried along, 'Well, we've been asked by – '

'Arthur dear, stop a minute will you?' Mrs. Weasley interrupted her husband mid-sentence, 'There are some people here that shouldn't be.'

Groaning, Katie let her head fall with a smack onto the kitchen table in front of her, muttering unintelligibly. 'It never, _ever_ works.'

'I'm sorry dear, but you aren't part of the Order yet, and this is a classified meeting.' Mrs. Weasly said gently, with an apologetic smile, 'Why don't you go and see what Ginny's up to? She's moping around the house somewhere.'

Scowling, Katie got up from her seat and trudged out of the kitchen wearily.

'Sorry Kates.' Fred whispered as he passed him, 'I tried to get them to let you join, but since you're not eighteen yet…'

Nodding to show she'd heard him, she shuffled out, closing the door behind her with an unnecessary amount of force.

'They lock you out too?' asked a quiet voice from behind her, and Katie spun around to see Ginny sitting in the darkest corner of the foyer, looking especially morose.

'Yeah.' Katie sighed, sitting down beside the red-haired fifteen year old, 'And all because I don't turn eighteen 'til next month.'

'I never got the eighteen year old thing,' Ginny replied, 'You're legally an adult at seventeen, so technically, they shouldn't be able to stop you from that kind of thing… but ah well.'

'It's stupid.' Katie huffed childishly, settling herself back against the wall.

'Amen sister.' Ginny agreed with a half-hearted attempt at muggle humour.

&&&&&&&

'Okay, so the aim of the mission is to make sure that the giants _don't_ sign the treaty the Death Eaters have.' Arthur explained, tapping his wand on a large parchment map behind him.

'The treaty ensures that the giants are bound to You-Know-Who's orders, and will hold them to anything he commands them to do. As we know giants aren't the most intelligent of creatures: they will sign it without thinking. This will be obviously bad for us for two reasons, the first, because that will mean we have no hope of ever bringing them to our side; and two, because by binding them to his will, Voldemort can make them do _anything_, and giants can cause a lot of damage when made to.'

'So, how are we supposed to crash a secret meeting with the limited amount of people we have?' asked Bill, his normally perpetually cheeriness replaced by an unusual amount of maturity seriousness, 'I mean, just how many of us are going on this mission?'

'Erm. Well, I don't know how many, let me just count.' Arthur busied himself with the list of names on the table in front of him, 'Ah, well there's eight of us to begin with, and then there'll be ten with our full team… and back-up if needed.'

'Eight?' Charlie echoed incredulously, 'we might as well sign the treaty for them!' 

'Well, there will be _ten_ of us once we're all there.' Arthur corrected his son weakly.

'Who exactly are the ten people going?' enquired Oliver quietly from the back; his head seemingly back to normal thanks to Mrs. Weasley's help.

'Well,' Arthur coughed, cleared his throat and consulted his list, 'let me see here… Okay, well, Bill and Charlie will be going. Fred, George, Roger, and you Oliver. My- '

'Oh great,' Fred interrupted morbidly, 'I have a one in ten chance of dying on my first mission.'

'Oh hush, dear.' Mrs. Weasley reprimanded, wiping away a stray tear as she did.

'Yes Fred, mind your mother please,' Arthur said sternly, before going back to his list, 'and as I was saying… myself and Remus shall be leading you lot in, and then Tonks and Kingsley will be joining us later on. And Lee, Angelina and Alicia, you three are on standby for immediate back-up.'

'Oh how lovely,' Angelina drawled with a tone startlingly similar to her boyfriend's, 'the men go first and if they die, the girls get called in. Bloody brilliant.'

'Come on Ange,' Tonks said bracingly, 'At least you're on call.'

Flashing the fuschia-haired woman a scathing look, Angelina remained mute, folding her arms and leaning back into the chair she was sharing with a pale Alicia.

Coughing, Arthur smiled weakly.  
'The mission shouldn't take long… two, maybe three weeks.'

'Twenty-one days to die. At least they're being generous.' Charlie muttered, earning a cuff up the back of the head from Bill, who was standing behind him.

'Look. I know it's a dangerous mission.' said Lupin, speaking up for the first time, 'But, if you haven't forgotten, you're all quidditch players. Your reflexes are something amazing. Magic can only take you so far, that's why you lot are being assigned in the first place. We had to have young, fit people. And that's what you are.'

'The younger you die, the smaller you are – the easier to bury you.' hissed Fred to George who snorted at the morbidity of it all.

'Alright, that's more than enough!' Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, her eyes puffy and red from holding back tears, 'I think that we should leave it there, just for today.'

Nodding, Arthur flicked his wand at the door. It opened slowly, and they all quickly filed out, eager to escape the anxious tension of the sweltering little kitchenette.

As soon as the door opened, Katie and Ginny jumped to their feet.

'What is it? What's going on?' demanded Ginny, frowning slightly at the dark looks on the faces of the twins.

Singling Oliver out, Katie grabbed his arm.  
'Oliver, what's going on? Why is everyone so upset?'

Frowning and shaking his head, he pulled his arm from her grasp and trudged upstairs after Roger and Charlie.

'Oliver!' she called indignantly, taking the stairs two at a time after him, and running headlong into the door he had just closed, 'Ow! OLIVERRR!'

Opening the door again, he looked down at her on the floor with a look she couldn't place.

'Look Katie, we just need to talk for a bit, alright?' said Roger from behind Oliver, who grimaced apologetically and closed the door again, locking it.

Her jaw dropping, Katie remained on the floor, stunned.  
She was still there when Fred and George trudged up the stairs, both of them looking like they'd aged in the last hour.

'Kates, what are you doing on the floor?' asked Fred as he and his twin stepped over her frozen body.

'They… they locked me out!' she burst out angrily, leaping to her feet.

'Katie, I-' George started, but was drowned out by the stubborn little brunette as she hammered on the door with all her strength.

'OLIVER TOBIAS WOOD! If you don't open this door RIGHT NOW, I'm going to BREAK it down!' she screamed, belting it with her fists as hard as she could.

'Katie, stop!' Fred and George yelled simultaneously to no avail.

Her eyes screwed up in anger, Katie continued to hammer the door, which all of a sudden seemed to be much softer, like toned muscle. _Familiar_ toned muscle. Wrenching them open again, Katie slowed her movements down a stop when she realised it was Oliver she was bashing.

'You finished?' he asked with a wry smile, taking a step out of the room and letting Fred and George walk into it, closing the door behind them.

'Um, yeah, I think so.' She mumbled sheepishly, looking down at their feet.

'Look, Kates… we're going on a mission. And it's dangerous. And we're scared. And that's why no ones especially jubilant at the moment.' He explained in short, sharp bursts, as if it hurt him to say it.

'I want to know what's going on…' she said urgently, grabbing his hand and holding it to her chest, 'Where are you going? Why is it so dangerous? Who's going?'

'Katie, you know I can't tell you that.' Oliver replied, looking down at her, his brown eyes locking with her blue ones.

'Please Oliver… if I can't come just because I'm one lousy month too young, the least you can do is tell where it is I can't do to.' She appealed quietly.

'Don't blackmail me into this.'

'Then tell me and I won't have to.'

'Kates…'

'Don't "Kates" me!'

'What!? Just because I can't tell you _classified information_!?'

'_Especially_ because you _won't_ tell me this "classified information"!'

'Katie!'

'Oliver!'

'ENOUGH!'

Startled into silence, Katie stared at him incredulously.

'Don't yell at me… you never yell at me unless we're on the pitch.'

'Then don't push me!' he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air, 'Look, you know what? You win. I'll tell you.'

She didn't say a word. Instead, she launched herself at him in the tightest hug he'd ever been given in his life.

'We're going to Bulgaria…' he whispered quietly, rearranging their limbs so that the hug was slightly more comfortable for both of them, 'We're going into giant territory. It's me, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George, Roger, Lupin and Mr. Weasley.'

'Giant country!?' she exclaimed, forcing him to clap a large hand over her mouth.

'Shhhh!' he hissed, looking around and pulling her into the first room he found, 'Yes, _giant country_. That's why it's so dangerous.'

'Oliver…'

'Look Katie, I know it's dangerous, but as Lupin said - '

'Oliver. Stop.'

'No, you stop. Look, as Lupin said, we're all Quidditch players and - '

'OLIVER!'

'WHAT!?

In answer, there was a loud inhuman screech that nearly deafened them, followed by an ominous flash of large claws that slashed the air centimetres before their faces.

'This is Buckbeak's room!' Oliver yelled needlessly, as they both fumbled for the doorknob.

'I think that's obvious.' Katie panted as they leant against the door, once they'd managed to get out of the room.

'No wonder we're all freaked out about Bulgaria,' Oliver said darkly, 'there's enough monsters in this bloody place to kill the lots of us, let alone throwing ourselves into a mountain range crawling with Death Eaters and dominated by giants!'

'Oh God.' Was all Katie could say as she slid down the door to sprawl out on the floor.

'Still, I suppose things could be worse.' He said mildly with a shrug, changing tact and sitting down beside her.

'Oliver, are you sure Mrs. Weasley checked you out thoroughly? I think I hit you harder than I thought.' She replied, reaching over and patting him tenderly on the skull.

'Australia is definitely the best place for you.' said Oliver with a scowl.

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **Does anyone else get sick of writing these things? Okay, so I can't really talk.. i forget them most of the time. That said, this counts for the whole story, k? All familiar character are not mine, they belong to JK Rowling. Nicolas and Tatiana, who are yet to come in this piece of literature, are mine, although their appearances are not... Nicolas is based on the lustworthy Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Tatiana is based on some Bulgarian supermodel that I cannot find the name of anywhere. The pretty little words at the top of this page in italics are mine, they are part of a poem, so please don't use them without asking.. although they aren't really worthy of anyone wanting to steal them, so never mind. I'll be using lyrics from musicians, and i promise to name them all in this A/N section, so never fear.  
__End of Disclaimer._

God, if that Disclaimer was any longer it'd be a fic all on its own. -rolls eyes-

Hello and welcome to the new-and-improved version of 'World On Fire'!

I know it doesn't really look much like the other version, but that was really the whole point.. it kinda sucked. I mean, the idea was alright, and I've since improved on it dramatically, but the interpretation of it in writing wasn't, so here's the best I can do. Note too, that this is the first story I've ever had a plan for, so perhaps that's what's helping, lol.

Um, can't think of much else to write, the Disclaimer took up most of my witticisms (or however you spell it), so I think that's it... OH! except that i have links to photos of all the characters involved in this story on my profile, so please check 'em out if you get a chance.. the ones of Jonathan R-M and Sean Biggerstaff in particular, are definitely worth a look, trust me. -winks-

Okay, so thanks for reading, and reviewing is great too.  
I promise I'll try and reply if you do review.. so please do. haha.

Ash xx


	2. Goodbyes, Strange Boxes & Weasley

**Chapter Two  
Goodbyes, Strange Boxes & Weasley Singing.**

'_Feed me the words to explain this urge,  
with pressure and squeeze, from points underneath.  
The streams in your skin are ready  
and I can, so I will, just as long as you instil,  
this fear in my heart…  
I just hope that you aren't alone.'_

_**Katie…**_

There's only so much one can take before one loses it, and I think I've hit that point. Two weeks… you'd think they'd just forget the fact that I'm not eighteen yet – by two sodding weeks – and let me come with them to Bulgaria. But _no_ they can't, because I'm "not yet eighteen". God, if I hear that one more time I'm going to blow my stack worse than Oliver did that time we lost to Hufflepuff… not pretty.

Roger is being especially clingy today and I really don't know why. Fred and George keep singing some stupid song they made up about Roger thinking I'm his sunshine and reason for breathing, but I honestly think that the boy is frightened shitless of the fact that he could die tomorrow. I mean, giant country in _Bulgaria_ of all places? Oh sure, it's not like Bulgaria was listed in yesterday's Daily Prophet as one of the top five countries _not_ to visit on your next holiday or anything.

'You are his suuuuuuuuuuuunshine, you are his summer shower of refreshing raaiiiinnn…' 

Argh. I cannot believe that they are still singing that.  
They started it this morning - waking me up two hours too early, I might add – and haven't stopped yet… it is now eight in the evening.

'Roger, I know you've sworn off all violence since I kicked your butt at wrestling last week, but can you please, _please_ kick one of them?' I beseeched of the nearest person to me, who just happened to be Roger himself.

Happy to oblige, Roger kicked out and caught the closest twin – Fred – in the back of the thigh, causing his right leg to buckle beneath him and send him toppling to the floor.

'Violence is the first sign of denial.' George informed both myself and Roger as we sniggered at Fred's howls of protest.

'Kaaaaaaaaaaaaa-tieee?'

Rolling my eyes, I stood up from my chair.  
Only one person ever called out to me like that, and that person was Oliver. As Fred so aptly puts it, for someone so incredibly convinced of his masculinity, he is very effeminate in some ways… like when he calls out my name (off the quidditch pitch) or his fingernails have dirt underneath them.

'Coming Oliver!'

Nodding a grateful farewell to Roger who was now sitting with his fingers stuffed in his ears, trying in vain to concentrate on the book in his lap as the twins began a hearty rendition of 'Everybody Dance Now' which I'd regretted teaching them the moment they'd had the words memorised perfectly.

'_Eeeeeeeverybody dance now! Doo-doo-doo-doo…'_

Making my escape, I scampered down the stairs and followed the dulcet tones of my best friend's voice as he argued with a rather grumpy Bill, who'd Apparated in rather late from the little apartment he shared with his wife Fleur in France (which was inconveniently next door to his mother-in-law).

'_Look,_ all I'm saying is that Quidditch drills are a good idea, _but_ crack-of-dawn quidditch drills aren't… yes I _know _the Death Eaters aren't going to wait until a respectable time of the morning to attack us, but four am is a little too extravagant.'

As I walked down the hallway towards the downstairs lounge room, I cringed. If Oliver thought I was going to take his side in a argument about dawn drills, then he was seriously stuffed in the head. Although, that might be thanks to my stunt with the quaffle yesterday, so perhaps I owe it to him… loyalty… dawn… loyalty… da- nope. No friendship is worth dawn wake-ups.

'Katie! There you are!'

Dammit.

'Look, we're talking drills for Bulgaria… and I suggested that some quidditch drills would be good for our co-ordination, y'know? But Bill won't hear of it.' Oliver berated me as soon as I stepped foot in the door.

Opening my mouth, I searched desperately for a way out, and before I could control what my mouth and body did, I muttered "I'm staying out of this" and walked straight back out again. Pressing my back to the wall next to the doorway, I smiled as Bill's laughter spilled out into the hallway. Oliver didn't sound amused.

I started to contemplate going back in to tell Oliver just _exactly_ what I thought of his dawn drills, when Charlie came sprinting down the corridor.

'Katie! Katie, are Oliver and Bill in there?' he asked, panting.

'Erm, yeah… why?' I enquired, frowning slightly – it wasn't like Charlie to be in such a rush for anything.

'They've pushed Bulgaria forward; we're leaving in three hours.' He said over his shoulder as he walked into the room.

Dammit.

* * *

'Okay, everyone right to go?'

Mr. Weasley's cheerful question was met by seven mournful glances, each one seemingly gloomier than the rest. My own must've been beyond mournful… I was struggling to keep the tears back.

'C'mon you lot, it's not going to be _that_ bad!' Mr. Weasley continued on bravely, apparently unaware of just how much each of them wished he would just shut his mouth at that particular moment in time.

'I can't believe you're going so soon.' I whispered to Oliver, who was standing beside me with an arm around my shoulders.

'We'll be back before you know it, Kates.' He whispered in return, pulling me tighter into his half-embrace.

'Five minutes gentlemen.' said Lupin, checking his watch and turning around to draw Tonks into an iron-grip hug.

Taking this as the cue to say their final goodbyes, everyone began their somewhat painful farewells.

'We'll see you soon kiddo.' Charlie said to me with a trademark grin, pulling me away from Oliver and placing a brotherly kiss on my cheek.

'Take care Katie, you'll be able to come with us soon enough.' Roger assured me, with an affectionate ruffle of my hair.

'Keep Ginny occupied for me, will you?' Bill hissed in my ear as he embraced me in a similar way to Charlie's kiss, 'she's going to go nuts without anyone around.'

Nodding, I smiled weakly before I was drawn into a large bear hug from the twins.

'Look after the shop for us Kit-Kat?' Fred asked.

'We've told Lee, Ange and Alicia they're to help you out, alright?' George added as they let go of me, giving Oliver a chance to say a proper goodbye.

'Okay.' I affirmed shakily, turning around swiftly and pressing my face into Oliver's chest so no one else would see me cry.

'Hey…' Oliver said quietly, surprised at my uncharacteristic display of tears, 'hey… woah. It's not _that_ bad Kates.'

'You have no idea, Oliver, so don't tell me it's not that bad.' I hissed, clinging to his body as tightly as possible, 'Just don't do anything stupid, alright?'

'You know me, a man of sense and safety.' He said with a laugh, managing to extract a slight giggle from me, 'Oh God Kates, if only I didn't have to go.'

'Tell me about it.' I agreed, inching away from him and wiping my face on his sweater, 'I'll write to you every day.'

'You better.' He said sternly before smiling and reaching into his backpack and pulling out a small wrapped box with my name written on a gift tag attached to it, 'I was going to wait and give this to you on your birthday, but seeing as how I might not be here for it, I thought you better have it now.'

Taking it from him, I made to unwrap it but he outstretched a hand to stop me.  
'Wait until I'm gone… trust me. It'll give you something to write to me about, okay?'

'Uh, okay.' I replied, placing it on the little table next to me.

'Thanks.' He said quietly, reaching out and kissing me tenderly on the cheek – something he never usually did.

'Alright, you've had more than your five minutes, so we have to be off.' said Mr. Weasley, trying to extract himself from Mrs. Weasley's vice-like grip.

Tearing themselves away from their relatives, loves and friends, the boys and Lupin formed a sprawled, very boy-ish semi-circle and smiled at the rest of us grimly. I winced as I heard the snuffles of Mrs. Weasley and Ginny from behind me… I was trying _so hard_ not to cry.

'See you all soon.' said Bill with a little smile, uncharacteristically forced.

We remained silent, except for Mrs. Weasley who dissolved into fresh tears and stumbled into the kitchen, Tonks trailing after her reluctantly, unable to tear her gaze away from Remus.

'Go Tonks, I'll write to you…' Lupin said quietly, reaching out and touching her hand, before pulling away and coughing awkwardly.

I was stunned at such a display of affection from my old teacher. Although everyone knew how much he loved the younger fuschia-haired woman, it was rare to see him so tender and raw.

'Okay, you all remember the photographs you've been shown? Right, well then, let's go… on three now.' Mr. Weasley glanced at his wife and only daughter, before pulling his wand from inside his coat.

Biting his lip, Oliver cast around in his various pockets for his own wand, seemingly unable to look at me.

'One…'

I felt a smaller hand grip mine, and I turned suddenly to see Ginny standing beside me, tears silently pouring down her delicate face.

'Two…'

I choked.

I couldn't breathe, I couldn't see, I couldn't hear… there was nothing but Oliver and the rest of the boys most important to me in my life, all standing in a line as if they were cattle waiting for the slaughter.

'Three!'

There was an assortment of Apparition cracks, before they all disappeared.

I was barely aware of Ginny sliding down the wall behind me; I was unfeeling, numb as anything except the fact that I was being left behind. Again.

'Katie?'

Alicia's gentle voice startled me from my reverie and I turned to see her pale face and quivering lips. She and Angelina were gripping each other tightly, as if transferring each other's pain to the other, and they stretched out a hand each, inviting me into their embrace.

I stared at them for a bit, glanced at Lee who was stroking Ginny's neck tenderly, and cringed afresh at Mrs. Weasley's miserable howls echoing from the kitchen. And then I turned and walked slowly up the stairs to the bedroom I shared with Ginny – and Hermione when she was here – and locked the door behind me.

And for the first time since I could remember, I cried so hard that I could barely breathe… sobbing myself wretchedly into an uneasy sleep, curled up in the darkest corner of the dusty room, with only the echoes of my own crying to comfort me.

_**

* * *

Oliver…**_

It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life, leaving Katie behind like that.

She's normally so stubborn and untouchable, and then she went and broke down in my arms, just when I needed her to be strong for me… when I needed her perpetual smile and witty remarks the most. My strong, unbreakable Katie dissolved into the first tears I'd seen her shed since she broke her leg at the age of twelve, after a ten feet fall from a school-issued broomstick.

As we trudged through the assorted vegetation of some Bulgarian forest, my thoughts were only on her. The idea occurred to me that giving her the present early might not have been such a good idea after all, considering how upset she was at the time… but nevertheless, I'd given it to her now, and there was no going back. Hopefully it would cheer her up, even if just for a little while.

Our endless march was silent, each of us were too buried in our own misery to say anything. Even the twins were being uncharacteristically quiet: Fred had Angelina's locket in his hand and was fiddling with the chain, and George was just striding along morosely, no doubt missing Alicia already. Bill, walking next to me, yawned loudly, disrupting the hushed atmosphere, and earned himself seven glances in response to his emission of tiredness.

'A kilometre to go.' Lupin said quietly, hoisting his pack further up on his back and falling back into silence, an additional note of sadness in his already melancholy grey eyes.

'What was in the box you gave Katie, Oliver?' asked Charlie from my left, making me choke.

Bill, who was the only one I'd confided in about the gift smiled and told Charlie to mind his own business.

'I'm just curious, is all.' He muttered indignantly, offended.

'You'll find out soon enough little brother.' Bill said with a wink at me.

I didn't know quite what to do… I couldn't believe I'd actually given her the box after all. With everything else going on, that was the last thing I should've done.

Looking at me curiously, Charlie allowed an eyebrow to raise itself at me but said nothing more.

Merlin, I'm a first-class idiot.

_**

* * *

Katie…**_

I woke up so suddenly that I cried out: as if someone had slapped me in the face.

Casting my gaze around sleepily, I discovered that someone had managed to heave me into my bed and placed a blanket over my exhausted form. I was thankful, the early hours of the morning were decidedly chilly and as I blinked blearily, trying to regain some kind of clarity, I drew the knitted rug tighter around my shivering body.

Oliver's face swam into my hazy vision, and the emotions I'd managed to hold at bay whilst sleeping came flooding back all at once. Screwing my eyes shut tightly, I forced the tears to vanish and leapt out of bed. Snatching the blanket up, I wrapped myself in it and tip-toed out of the bedroom, careful not to disturb Ginny, whose breathing was still shaky, as if she'd only just managed to cry herself to sleep.

As I crept downstairs, I caught a glance of light from the sitting-room that Bill and Oliver had been in earlier, and I headed for the warmth of the fire-lit space. Passing the alcove, I did a double-take as I spotted the gift Oliver had pressed in my hand before he left. Picking it up, I pulled my blanket tighter around me and shuffled down the hallway towards the sitting-room.

Tonks was sitting in an arm chair, her normally cheery face stark and disturbingly haggard. She looked up as I entered and managed a brief smile.

'What're you doing up at this hour?' she asked quietly, continuing her gaze into the dancing flames in the fireplace.

'Couldn't sleep. You?' I returned, sinking into the arm-chair opposite her and playing with the ribbon on Oliver's gift.

'Same.' She sighed with a great exhale of breath, blinking and consequently startling me when her eyes changed colour suddenly, exchanging their usual attractive violet-blue for a more bitter shade of grey, 'Oops.'

'Does it happen accidentally sometimes?' I enquired curiously, watching her large eyes with interest.

'Sometimes… usually when I'm a little out of sorts.' She replied, blinking and groaning as her fuschia hair swapped its neon colour for a morbid hue of blood-red.

I nodded, understanding more than I think either of us realised.  
I sat watching her for a few minutes as she tried desperately to get her hair back to its normal colour, finally settling for a more serene mahogany colour, which sort of glowed eerily in the fire's dim light.

'What's that you've got there?' she asked interestedly, breaking our companionable silence.

'I dunno.' I answered truthfully, finally remembering the gift I'd been so eager to open earlier, 'Oliver slipped me this just before he left and told me not to open it until he was gone.'

'Gone as in left for Bulgaria, or gone as in…' she didn't finish her sentence; she didn't need to.

I drew a breath in sharply, before emitting a resultant cough.  
'Oh, definitely left for Bulgaria.' I said hurriedly.

'Open it then.' She said with a shrug, leaning in closer as I tugged at the gold gift-ribbon.

Peeling the ribbon and paper off slowly, I unveiled a small box and a note, folded into as small a square as he could apparently get it. I heard Tonk intake a small breath as she saw the small box, but when I glanced at her curiously, she merely smiled and nodded, inviting me to open the note which I now held in my shaking hands.

It was a rather long note, written in Oliver's untidy scrawl, but at the top, there was a boldly written instruction, obviously meant just for me.

**DO NOT READ UNTIL YOU'VE OPENED THE BOX. **

Placing the letter beside me obediently, I pressed the little button on the side of the velvet box and – **_crash!_**

Tonks had leant too far over the arm of her chair, consequently tipped it over with an echoing bang of wood on wood. 'Oh _no!_ I'll have woken the whole house up now!'

We sat in a horrified kind of silence, as the sound of footsteps creeping down the stairs filtered into the room.

'What's going on?' asked a small voice curiously from the doorway.

Tonks and I both jumped, screaming in fright.

Frowning, an exhausted looking Ginny smiled faintly at the sight of the pair of us – Tonks lying sprawled on the wooden floor, her limbs entangled in the spindly arm chair, and me gripping the arms of my own chair with whitening knuckles.

'What's in the box then?'

I groaned.  
Did privacy even exist in this place?

'Go on then, open it…' Tonks urged me, pulling her legs out from under the chair tenderly, as Ginny came and sat down on the chair next to mine, glancing curiously at the little box sitting meekly on the floor in the middle of us.

Obviously not.

* * *

_A/N: lyrics - 'Points Underneath' - The Honorary Title_

_Hello darlings,  
__how are we all this lovely evening (or whatever time of the day it is where you are)?_

_Okay, no prizes for who guesses what is in the box, but hey, i needed to make it a little less cliche, and so you are given a sort of cliffhanger.. ooohhh... haha._

_Erm, well, this chapter is dedicated to Kailey Hamilton.. actually this entire story is dedicated to her, as she has honoured me by translated a fair few of my KBOW stories into Spanish.. she is pretty much amazing, and so, if I may, Kailey this is for you. hope you enjoy it._

_I've had a few people say they preferred the old 'World On Fire' better, but I have to say this... WoF just wasn't that good. BUT, it did get me started on this whole huge plot that is now the basis for this story, and it spurred me on to actually planning a story for once.. this story will be good (i don't want to sound arrogant here, honestly). I have HUGE plans for it, it should be fairly lengthy.. and hey, if all else fails, i have pictures for you to lust over. especially the pictures of Oliver, Charlie and Nicolas (who is yet to come). _

_So, that's enough of my rambling Author's Note.. ooh, except that I have a FictionPress account now which contains one original story and a whole stack of my own original poetry. If you like my writing, you should like my poetry... the link is on my profile._

_Thanks a lot everyone, I'll try and update again soon._

_Love,  
Ash xx_


	3. Interesting Proposals, Marshmallow

**3.  
Interesting Proposals, Marshmallow Showers  
& Brotherly Affection.**

'_We're enemies and we're friends,  
sometimes I have to wonder if you'll be there at the end,  
your eyes, they send shivers down my spine,  
was love ever so important as it is tonight?  
And this is why we go to war.'_

**_Oliver…_**

Volunteering for the Order, I thought to myself as I trudged wearily after Bill, was not one of the most intelligent things I've done in my nineteen years of life. After all, there's only so much that can be said for saving the world when you're marching in knee-deep mud up a violently steep mountain track, whilst trying to block out the sounds of Fred and George's rendition of some muggle song. And, while my main reason for joining – besides the fact that it's really the only profession left open to me since the Quidditch league was cancelled – was to keep my family and friends safe, it's hard to feel brave, courageous and even _useful_ when you're pining for home and decidedly hungry.

'So, you going to tell me what's in that box?' asked a voice from behind me, which I knew belonged to Charlie.

'Charlie!' Bill interrupted sharply, thankfully saving me from having to own up to my own stupidity, 'What'd I say about leaving Oliver alone?'

'I am twenty-one years old, thank you _very _much, my dearest brother,' Charlie replied acidly, 'I do not need someone only three years older than me, telling me not to ask my friend a simple question, to which I'm sure there is a simple answer.'

'Look, I feel like a right idiot as it is, I don't need you trying to weasel it out of me.' I hissed, wincing at my accidental use of the word "weasel". If there's ever a way to insult a Weasley, it is to use the term 'weasel' – in either the animal or other sense – when talking to them… they hate it.

Bill flashed me a reproachful look, cuffing his younger brother up the side of his ginger head.  
'Leave Oliver alone. He'll tell you when he wants to.'

And that is why I wish I'd had an older brother, instead of being an only child... well, I suppose Katie's brother David could've been my surrogate brother if I'd wanted, but David was never really too keen on me anyway.

As I contemplated the way fate plays us around like fools, I managed to miss the warning signals of a Death Eater attack – the flashes of hazy green, the cackles and the assorted cracks – and consequently, Charlie and Bill were forced to throw themselves at me to keep me from danger. We landed in the mud with a squelchy thud, and before I knew what the hell was going on, Charlie had shoved my face into the rank mud and bellowed some kind of hex, hissing with pain as a returning jinx caught his right upper-arm.

'Argh! Dammit!' cried Bill from somewhere above me, sounding distant as I floundered in the mud for my wand, which I found and snatched up into my fist.

'_Expelliarmus!' _

Dodging the curse that I accidentally shot his way, Fred dived for cover, dragging a protesting Roger with him.

'Something's gone horribly wrong!' panted Arthur, as he sprinted to the little hollow in the face of the boulder, to join them.

'Oh, no, you don't say Dad!' Charlie yelled sarcastically through gritted teeth, bared against the pain in his arm.

'Now is not the time to be an arse, Weasley.' Roger yelled, running forward with Fred to drag Charlie into the hollow.

'Where the hell is George!?' Fred exclaimed, answered when his red-haired twin came tumbling from a bush and stumbled into him, sending the four of them flying into the ditch.

Looking up, I bellowed the first curse that came into my head, and exchanging glances with Bill, I jumped to my feet and sprinted across the path hot on his tail, sliding into the ditch alongside Roger, who understandably, didn't look particularly pleased.

'All accounted for?' asked Lupin, touching his wand to Charlie's wound, healing it as best he could, and moving away so Bill could strap it with a strip of his cloak.

'Just.' said Charlie darkly, sitting up and inspecting his arm.

'Stop being such a girl.' Fred reprimanded, punching his brother's other arm in an attempt to toughen him up.

'I've been working with dragons for nearly five years, little brother,' Charlie retorted, 'while you've been sitting in school and making fireworks for people.'

'Hey, I'm not the one -' Fred started, but was interrupted by his father, who hissed at them to be quiet.

'Someone's coming.' He said with a low voice, holding his wand up defensively, 'One… two… thr – for the love of Merlin!'

_

* * *

**Katie…**_

Tonks and Ginny were breathing heavily as the three of us stared at the little velvet box sitting on the floor in front of us.

'I really, _really_ think you should open it now Katie, before I lose control and open it myself.' said Tonks in a strained kind of voice.

Holding my breath, I reached out and picked up the strange little box.  
'Well, Oliver, lets see what kind of surprise you have in store for me, eh?'

With shaking hands, I pressed the little stud at the front and it popped open… I nearly choked.

Inside sat an exquisite silver ring, slightly tarnished, and set with an ornate design of diamonds and sapphires.

Tonks squealed helplessly.  
'Oh, I'm so sorry… but for the _love of Merlin_!'

I agreed wholeheartedly… I couldn't do anything but stare at the beautiful piece of jewellery as it sat glimmering in the dimming light of the fire.

'Are you, are you going to read the letter?' Ginny asked hoarsely, leaning over my shoulder to get a better glance at the gorgeous piece of jewelled perfection.

I groaned, but said nothing, picking up the letter and perusing it desperately, seeking an explanation that I already sub-consciously had.

**Kates –**  
**Surprised? I bet you are… I can just see your face. I bet your right eyebrow is raised, you're chewing on your tongue, and your nose is wrinkled up in that cute kind of thing you do when you're confused as all hell. Haha, go on now, do a double take and smirk.**

Smiling, I rolled my eyes before continuing on, holding out the ring to Tonks and Ginny, who were about to die from the effort of not snatching the box from me.

**I suppose you're wondering why I've just randomly given you a ring… well, there's a huge long explanation for it that seems to span about sixteen years, but I'll save that for when I can actually _see_ you, and just give you the short version.**

**I love you.**

**Haha, I can just see you sitting there going "What the hell is he talking about!?" and honestly? I don't know. I mean, I understand if this isn't getting the effect I desired… ie. you don't want to the ring and you don't want to marry me, because you're only seventeen – yes, yes, I know you're _almost eighteen_, but still… I understand.**

**However, if you would _like_ to accept the ring – you're going to be keeping it anyway, it was grandmother's and besides you, she was the most inspirational, beautiful woman in the world and I can't think of anyone else worthy enough to have it – then I'm ecstatic! I hope that I'm not pushing you into anything, because you _are_ so young, but even if we wait a couple of years to actually get married, at least I'll know you're mine for the keeping… and here you were saying that I was never the possessive type? Ha! I know that's laughable. I've always been possessive. Especially of you.**

**Anyway, I've got to run, but just one more thing… HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  
(two weeks in advance, I know)**

**With love and the hope that I'll be by your side for every other birthday you ever have, Oliver.**

I sniffled a little as I refolded the letter, keenly aware of the gazes of both Tonks and Ginny on me as I did. Tonks held out the ring and I took it, holding it up to the firelight as a million thoughts ran through my head at once.

Oliver loves me?  
He loves _me_?

'What are you going to say?' Ginny whispered quietly, disturbing my intense pattern of almost-comprehensive thought.

'I have no idea.' I answered hoarsely, coughing in the vain hope of clearing my throat.

'If it were me I'd marry him.' advised Tonks with a smile, 'it's not everyday your best friend proposes to you.'

'I think – I think that's half the problem.' said Ginny with a little glance at me, 'He's her best friend… you don't just marry your friend, no matter how close you are to them. Not unless you _love_ them.'

I nodded dumbly to this statement. I don't know how she did it but she'd managed to tap directly into the root of my unease.

_Oliver was my best friend but did I love him like that?  
__And how in the name of bloody Merlin was I supposed to figure out if I did or not?  
__And worse still, what would happen if I didn't love him like that?_

As I was contemplating these questions I failed to notice as footsteps echoed in the hallway. It was only at Ginny's sharp intake of breath that I looked up.

An extremely sleepy Angelina was standing in there doorway with a grim look on her tired face.

'What's up Ange?' I asked with a little frown, 'Something the matter?'

'Tonks, you've been called in as back-up,' she informed the fuchsia-haired woman, 'you and Kingsley are to leave in an hour for the Apparation Point.'

'Dammit!' Tonks cursed with a bash of her fist on the arm of the chair, 'Just when things were getting interesting around here!'

Laughing Angelina finally spotted the knuckleduster of a ring Oliver had bequeathed me.

'Oh for the love of Merlin, what is _that_!?'

Yeah, I'm _really_ going to be able to decide important things such as who I'll be spending the rest of my life with, around here, aren't I?

_**

* * *

Oliver…**_

Startled by the violent succession of one Apparation crack after another, Mr. Weasley tripped on his shoelace. There was a high-pitched shriek and a male yelp before he was thrown backwards into the ditch by a fuchsia-haired woman a bit older than Charlie.

Glancing around warily, his face split into a warm smile.  
'Tonks… Kingsley… Wonderful!'

'Heard you needed a little assistance.' said Tonks with a grin, struggling to her feet, 'Are we all here?'

'Yeah, we're all here.' I croaked stiffly, wiping the sweat from my brow and consequently smearing dirt across my forehead.

'We need to make it to The Pass as quickly as possible.' Kingsley informed us in his rich baritone voice.

'That's looking to be like a slightly difficult thing to do at the present time.' Roger remarked with a wry smile, 'Although, we could always try anyway and die in the process.'

He was rewarded with a cuff up the back of the head from Bill.

'Look, I'll go on ahead to make sure the Pass is clear, and then I'll send up sparks… that should give you enough to Apparate in and then head for the nearest shelter.' offered Kingsley with a little shrug, as if he didn't mind taking off on a suicidal mission for a bunch of kids he didn't even know.

'If you're sure…' Tonks replied before changing tact and shaking her head sharply, 'No. No, Kingsley it's too dangerous.'

'Tonks is right, it's too dangerous.' Lupin supported his fiancée with a little nod, 'It would be suicide to even contemplate heading in there alone.'

'I'll go with him!' Bill and Charlie piped up simultaneously making their father groan in horror.

'It's still suicidal!' I yelled louder than I intended, earning myself a sharp reprimand from Lupin, 'Look, Charlie, you're hurt and - '

'Charlie's hurt?' Tonks interrupted curiously, standing on her tiptoes and sticking her head over top of my shoulder nosily, 'Gosh, does it hurt much?'

'Uh, no… no, not all. Just a scratch.' said Charlie quickly with a grim smile, puffing his chest out a bit.

'Good on ya then, keep up the good work.' She said with a smile, glancing curiously at Fred and George, who were silently laughing, in a fit of hysterics.

'Will you two get a grip on yourselves?' Charlie asked through clenched teeth, punching the nearest brother – George – in an attempt to shut him up.

'Sorry about that, Monsieur Macho.' Fred said, trying to keep a straight face, but failing terribly, taking George and now Roger (who was more than happy for the distraction from his impending death), down with him into the bottom of the ditch, rolling around in hysterics.

'Bloody idiot.' Charlie hissed fiercely, rolling his eyes and nursing his injured arm and pride in silence.

I smirked but said nothing. Charlie's pride was being given a severe bashing already, and when the time came for the truth about my gift to Katie to come out, I wanted as many people on my side as possible.

I wonder if she's opened it yet?

* * *

_**Ginny…**_

There was quite a commotion downstairs by the time Katie had gotten over her initial shock of Oliver's proposal.

Kingsley and good old Tonks had been packed off to Bulgaria – Tonks had only agreed to go on the condition that as soon as Katie had decided whether or not to accept Oliver's marriage offer, she would be the first to know, even before Oliver himself.

And so, at quarter to five in the morning, sleep all but vanished from our thoughts, Katie, Angelina, Alicia and I sat around the kitchen table, the stunning ring sitting in the middle of us.

'I think you should say "yes".' Alicia commented quietly with a little smile on her delicately featured face, 'He's loved you for ages Kates.'

Katie simply nodded and smiled in return, clearly lost in thought.

There was the clump of obviously male footsteps outside and we all turned to see a bleary-eyed Lee enter the kitchenette. 'What're you all doing up at this hour?'

'Oliver proposed to Katie.' Angelina informed him immediately.

'And you couldn't deal with it at, say, a decent hour like nine?' he asked with a loud, long yawn as he shuffled to the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of milk.

'Hello!? She could be getting _married_!' Angelina retorted with a wave of her hands, 'Merlin, are boys ever concerned about anything other than sleep, food and sex!?'

Alicia, Katie and I wrinkled our noses at this crude remark.

'What!? It's true!' she exclaimed indignantly.

'Actually,' Lee replied smugly, 'we do care about things other than sleep, food and sex…'

'Like what?' she enquired disbelievingly.

'Quidditch.' He answered with a grin winking at the rest of us and marching back up the stairs, gulping his milk straight from the carton as he went.

'You do know that's disgusting, right!?' Angelina called out to him with a look of pure distaste written across her chocolate features.

All she got for an answer was a raucous laugh and echoing belch.

Katie and I found this hilarious, apparently more so than Angelina and Alicia who simply pulled a face. I guess growing up around Fred and George really warps your sense of humour.

'So, what're you going to say?' I enquired of Katie softly with a little smile.

She sighed and shrugged her shoulders wearily.  
'I have _no_ idea.'

'I don't know why you won't just say "yes".' Angelina remarked in her usual forceful manner, pulling her wand from the pocket of her pyjama pants and flicking it at the table, conjuring up four mugs of hot chocolate for us.

'Well, I want to be absoloutely sure that I love him, if I accept it,' Katie replied with a small sip of her steaming hot chocolate, 'I mean, how horrible would it be if I suddenly discovered that I only loved him as my best friend, like, two years into the marriage?'

'This needs some marshmallows.' was all Angelina had for an answer, grimacing into her slightly bitter drink.

'There's some in the cupboard.' Alicia said pointing in the direction of the particular marshmallow-containing cupboard.

'Well, I personally think you should sleep on it and decide tomorrow when you're writing him his letter.' I recommended with a laugh as Angelina let out a cry of disbelief, holding out the empty marshmallow packet for our viewing pleasure.

'Who ate all the bloody marshmallows!?' she yelled, completely ignoring the three hisses we sent in her direction.

'You'll wake up the entire house!' Alicia exclaimed under her breath, jumping in fright with the rest of us as a loud pop echoed throughout the kitchen and Angelina was buried under a violent rainfall of marshmallows.

The three of us glanced at each other silently before dissolving into hysterics that were soon drowned out by the furious growling of one marshmallow-covered Angelina, who immediately stalked out of the kitchenette and up the stairs to Lee's room, the tiny confectionaries falling off her like confetti with every step she took.

'Well, amidst all this peaceful quiet and non-eventfulness I think I'll head off to bed.' said Katie with a wicked smile that broadened as Angelina's shouting reached our ears.

'Night.' I said with a matching grin, leaning down and picking up a handful of marshmallows to put in my hot chocolate.

'Sweet dreams honey.' Alicia said to her friend before rolling her eyes as Angelina's stomping footsteps could be heard coming in our direction.

'Quick! Go!' I hissed with a giggle, 'Escape before it's too late!'

Laughing, she headed off to bed, leaving Alicia and myself to the mercy of Angelina and her long braids now covered in melted marshmallows, thanks to Lee Jordan and his apparent wish for a long and painful death.

* * *

_**Charlie…**_

I swear to Merlin, that I will not – can not – be held responsible for my actions, if, by some kind of chance snapping of my rather hearty patience, I happen to kill Fred and George.

For the last hour, as Bill, Kingsley, Dad, Lupin, Tonks and I have been trying to figure out the best way for us to get into The Pass without dying, Fred and George have done nothing but torment me with this new little song of theirs, which stars myself as "Monsieur Macho" and some girl – presumably Tonks – as "Madame Already-Married". Bill seems to find this all hilarious and Tonks is taking it with good grace, but I'm about ready to murder them… and Lupin? Oh, well for all his gentleness and 'I'm the last person you'd expect to be a werewolf'-ness, I think he might be ready to snap as well.

'Marry you? But why, I'm already married!' George mimicked shrilly as he and Fred danced around behind me, just beyond kicking distance.

'Look, boys, _please_.' Dad pleaded, more for the sake of his own head, more than mine, 'We are trying to decide the best way to keep you _alive_, so we'd appreciate it if you'd knock it off for a bit.'

'Not until Charlie asks nicely.' Fred countered with a smug look in my direction.

'And promises to stop kicking us.' George added with an identical look.

And Mum worries about them dying? Ha! They could talk their way out of an impending death sentence from You-Know-Who himself, let alone dodging a few curses from Death Eaters.

'Charlie, _please_.' Dad sighed with an apologetic air.

'Can you please, please leave us alone?' I beseeched of them through my teeth, my pride taking another battering, 'I promise to stop kicking you.'

'And yelling at us?'

'And hitting us?'

'And insulting us?'

'And feeding us your cookies – hey Fred, d'you remember that time when we were seven and Charlie -'

'OUT! NOW!' I bellowed louder than I intended, and instantly, we were all on our stomaches in various places under the cover of the low shrubs as the sky exploded with spells above us.

'Nice one Charlie.' Bill muttered sarcastically, letting go of the handful of collar he'd used to drag me down onto the ground.

And this is why I hate being a middle kid.

* * *

_Well hello there! _

_First of all, a HUGE apology. I broke my promise...  
I don't know if you remember, but I promised to reply to all the reviews I've gotten for this fic.. and I haven't. And I am so sorry! _

_My excuse, if you'll hear it, is that I've been so uber-busy with everything at the moment, especially school and my rather pathetic love life, and I haven't had time. But still, it's not really an excuse is it? sorry._

_But anyway, this chapter didn't have a whole lot happen, I know, but the next chapter will be inifinitely more exciting, I promise. Oh, and there you are Giddy, I updated. Just for you. haha._

_Erm. Oh, poetic lines at the top are mine, please don't steal. I doubt it will ever happen, but just in case you feel so inclined.. please don't. _

_Um, I can't think of much else to say, except that your reviews really do mean a lot to me and I love seeing just what you think of my work and your encouraging words - or in the case of Giddy, abuse over the lack of answers in a chapter haha - and I appreciate it so much. _

_with love and appreciaion that cannot be expressed through words,  
Ash xx_


	4. Between the Seconds of Your Life

**Chapter Four:  
Between The Seconds of Your Life.**

'_Only believe the things I wrote,  
I'll put it in a note, yeah,  
I'll cross my T's and dot my I's,  
Better say hello, don't you dare say goodbye,  
I'll write sincerely yours and sign my name,  
P.S. I love you, forever and today.'_

**Katie…**

I couldn't sleep. Again.

Lying flat on my back and staring at the ceiling, I fiddled with the ring, grazing my shaking fingertips over the contours of the silver and the smooth surfaces of the gems. It was the most amazing piece of jewellery I'd ever seen. And it was mine.

My stomach jolted.  
Filled with dozens of emotions, each one attempting to send me over the edge of sanity, it was whirling and clenching making me feel intensely nauseous.

Honestly, my automatic answer to Oliver's untimely proposal was "yes".  
How could _any_ girl say "no" to a beautiful letter like that, let alone _me_, who's known him her _entire_ life? That letter wouldn't have been easy for him to write, I knew, he wasn't the type of boy – man, actually – who could just sit and pour his emotions out on paper… he's definitely the more hands-on type of male.

Now that I thought about it, having feelings for him wasn't as insane as I'd first thought it was – after all, my whole life had been spent listening to people telling me to wake up and admit I'm crazy about that boy from his brown Bambi eyes to his bootlaces.

No, it wasn't nearly as insane as I'd thought it was…

In fact, it wasn't insane at all.

* * *

**Oliver…**

Chaos had erupted around us.

Lying sprawled on my stomach next to Charlie, who was grumbling irritably, I gripped my wand with a shaking hand, listening for Bill's instructions.

'Alright you two, we need to get everyone to the Pass,' said Bill, elbowing Charlie, who was still grumbling, 'and since all the Death Eater attention is on us here, the Pass should be clear.'

I nodded to show I understood.

'Okay,' he continued on, 'so, on the count of three, Charlie and I are going to Apparate to the Pass, and you, Oliver, are going to get to Lupin and Dad and tell them to send everyone two at a time, to the Pass, where me and Charlie will cover them.'

I swallowed nervously and nodded again.  
'Count of three, I run to Lupin and we'll all meet you at the Pass?'

Bill smiled and clapped me on the shoulder.  
'That's it mate, good luck… ready Charlie?'

Charlie grunted.

'Okay then,' Bill set his jaw resolutely, 'one…'

Something exploded overhead and the three of us ducked our heads.

'Two…' 

'Oliver,' said Charlie suddenly, 'what's in the box?'

Rolling his eyes at his brother, Bill clipped him up the back of the head, before bellowing 'THREE!'.

Springing into action, I lunged forwards, my eyes focused solely on the tall, lean form of Lupin.

Curses and hexes rained down on me, and my quidditch-born reflexes carried me from right to left, out of the way. I bolted straight past Roger, who was hidden behind a shrub, blood dripping from a gash across his brow.

'Oliver!' called Lupin, confused, 'where's Bill and Charlie?'

I leapt into the ditch next to him, panting heavily.  
'Apparated to the Pass, waiting for us to come two at a time.'

Lupin sighed.  
'Trust those two.'

I shrugged, there seemed no fitting response.

'Alright,' he said, his teaching background obvious in his voice, 'run and tell Fred, George and Roger. You four apparate first and then Arthur, Tonks and myself will come last.'

I nodded, setting my jaw and running out into the open again towards the twins, who were hidden behind a large tree, each taking turns to cast hexes in the enemy's direction.

'Fred! George!' I bellowed, getting their attention.

Turning around, they began to cover my back so that I could get to them as quickly as possible.

'Well hello there el Capitan,' George greeted me happily, as if there wasn't at least one hex flying our way every few seconds.

'Fancy seeing you here,' Fred remarked in much the same manner as his twin, 'and what can we do for you?'

'We've got to apparate to the Pass,' I said hoarsely, my throat sore from breathing in the smoky air.

'Shall do Ollie-dear,' Fred said with a smart salute, 'we'll cover you until you get to Roger and then we'll be on our merry way.'

Rolling my eyes, I laughed briefly before running for Roger, who was being bombarded with curses every which way, his shrub-cover disintegrating rapidly.

'Apparate Roger!' I yelled, 'Apparate!'

'Where?' he called back dumbly, and I groaned, continuing to run for him.

So much for him being in bloody _Ravenclaw_ at Hogwarts, the idiot had no brain at all... well at least not at the moment, anyway.

'The Pass!' I hissed at him, turning back to look at the twins, who sent me a simultaneous thumbs-up and disappeared.

'Oh, right,' he panted, with a crooked smile.

I gritted my teeth, it was infinitely better to say nothing, at least for now.

'Okay, let's go.' He said, obviously as eager as I was to get out of here.

Nodding, I raised my wand and we left the forest together with a concurrent apparating crack.

* * *

**Katie… **

'Good morning sunshine!'

Startled awake by Lee and his mischievous sing-song voice, I was instantaneously blinded when he yanked open the curtains of the small window next to my bed.

'Argh! Dammit Lee!'

Laughing raucously, he grinned at me, his white teeth gleaming.  
'I don't know who sounds more irritated this morning – oh well, _afternoon_ – you or Angelina.'

This was instantly answered when the sounds of Angelina arguing with Mrs. Weasley travelled upstairs.

'What are they arguing about?' I asked, surprised; Angelina, though snappy, would never normally argue with an adult.

'Fred.' He said simply, his brow furrowing slightly.

I opened my mouth to encourage him to elaborate, but he shook his head.

'It's nothing really, they're just both on edge and Mrs. Weasley was sick of Angelina snapping at everyone.'

'Oh.' I said quietly, using my forearms to prop myself into a sitting position and letting out a hiss when I leant on something rather painful. Reaching down, I picked up Oliver's ring, smiling slightly.

Lee surveyed the ring with his usual cool grace.  
'What're you going to say?'

My smile grew wider, which Lee took as an answer in the affirmative.

'Congratulations Kates.' He said happily, laughing and punching me in the arm with brotherly affection, just as he always did.

'Just… Just don't tell anyone, I want to tell them myself.' I said, a grin splayed across my face despite my best effort to contain it.

'My lips are sealed.' He replied, pointing his wand at his lips and spello-taping them shut.

I giggled, before pushing him away from the bed.  
'Get out of here idiot.'

He winked, bowed elegantly and left the room, lips still stuck together.

Somewhere amidst his travels towards the kitchen he must've encountered a thoroughly annoyed Angelina, because a minute or so later there was a loud "_rrrip_!" and an indecently loud scream.

'Aaargh! _Angelina_!'

Laughing, I laid back onto the bed, holding the ring up in front of my face and gazing at it dreamily. 'Oliver, Oliver, Oliver… what in the world am I going to do with you?'

'Jump his bones, perhaps?' asked a voice from the doorway and I jumped, startled.

Angelina laughed evilly, obviously in a much better mood now she'd managed to inflict some kind of bodily pain on Lee, who I could still hear moaning about his brutally waxed lip.

'So you're going to say "yes" then?' she said, sitting down on the edge of my bed and turning to face me with a flurry of long, dark braids.

'I think so.' I replied, slipping the ring onto my finger and holding it up to the noon sunlight.

'That is one large rock.' She commented, leaning forward and taking my hand so she could survey the ring properly, 'Looks _ancient_.'

'Well, it _was_ his grandmother's.' I said, extracting my hand from her grasp and picking up the letter, scanning it for at least, the twentieth time.

'KATIE!' 

Rolling her eyes as Mrs. Weasley's voice floated up into the room, Angelina stood up abruptly. 'She has breakfast for you.'

Looking up at her curiously, I frowned.  
'What were you two arguing about earlier?'

She sighed, sitting back down again.

'It was nothing really,' she said, all of a sudden sounding strained and tired: two most un-Angelina-like qualities, 'Alicia, Ginny and I were all sitting around the table talking about the boys, and I commented that living with Fred must be nightmarish – when he stayed with me and my family that weekend in the holidays last year I had to clean up after him constantly or else my mother would've lost it – and then Mrs. Weasley just sort of erupted.'

I raised an eyebrow.  
'What d'you mean she "erupted"?'

'Well,' she continued on, looking tireder than ever, 'she started yelling at me, saying that Fred was a good boy and that if I didn't like him for who he was, then I didn't deserve him and that, that… that I shouldn't waste my time hanging around here complaining about him while he's over in Bulgaria fighting for – for – oh God.'

To my utmost horror, she dissolved into sobs, her face hidden by the fistful of quilt she'd been clenching moments earlier.

'A-A-Angelina,' I stammered, completely gob-smacked by my proud, strong friend's lapse of control, 'I-I…'

And then, to my complete and total bewilderment, I was crying with her, bawling my eyes out onto Oliver's letter, smudging the ink beyond recognition.

'Bloody hell; leave you two alone for two minutes and look what happens!'

Teary-eyed and blubbering, both Angelina and myself looked up shamefully to see Lee back again, his tall frame standing in the doorway with its usual effortless ease.

'Oh piss off Jordan.' Angelina muttered, standing up and wiping her face with her sleeve, making to leave the room.

'Aw, c'mon Ange, I was joking,' said Lee cajolingly, walking over and trying to make her sit back down, 'c'mon its okay, I'll leave if you want.'

The look she flashed him was so sinister in nature, I instinctively recoiled up against the wall, but it was nothing compared to the look she gave the floor when Mrs. Weasley bustled in, my breakfast on a tray.

'Katie dear, you weren't coming down so I thought I'd better – oh,' stopping short as she took in my tear-stained face, Angelina's ugly expression and Lee's exasperated grimace, she frowned slightly, 'what's going on?'

'Nothing Mrs. Weasley, it's fine,' Lee said gently, springing into action and taking the tray from her hands, 'Katie and Ange are just a little emotional.'

'Ah,' she said with a knowing little smile, which she sent solely in my direction, apparently still annoyed with Angelina, 'well, if you need anything dears, just let me know.'

She left, bustling back out the door and ushering a curious Ginny, who'd stuck her head in on the proceedings, back downstairs.

'You can't even have a good bloody cry in this place without company.' muttered Angelina darkly, collapsing back onto the bed next to me.

Laughing, Lee walked over and placed the breakfast tray on my lap.  
'There you are Kates, eat up, it'll make you feel better.'

I smiled at him.  
'Thanks Lee.'

Turning in the doorway he winked.  
'Anytime Kates, anytime.'

Angelina waited until the last sounds of his clumping footsteps on the staircase faded away and then sprung up, looking at me curiously. 'What's going on with you two?'

I choked on my bacon.  
'_What!?_'

'It all makes perfect sense now,' she continued on, apparently unaware of my gagging and coughing, 'that's why you weren't going to accept Oliver's proposal…'

'But I _am_ going to accept his proposal!' I retorted throatily, my eyes watering.

She studied me, before sighing.  
'Does Lee know that?'

'Yes!' I said indignantly, still confused as to where this had all come from, 'He was the first one I told!'

This, apparently, was the wrong thing to say.

'You told _Lee_ before you told the rest of us!?' she exclaimed in disbelief.

'And so what if I did?' I bellowed, upsetting my tray and at the end of my tether, 'Why are you acting like this!? You sound as if you're _jealous_ or something!'

'_Hello!_' she roared back, 'I'm in love with FRED!'

'And _I'm_ in love with OLIVER!' I screamed back automatically, before cutting myself short and panting heavily.

Angelina, breathing hard, stared at me.  
'You are?'

'Apparently so...' I panted, looking down at my breakfast-covered lap and groaning.

There was an awkward silence in which we both looked at each other, before she reached into her pocket and pulled out her wand, muttering a spell and making the mush in my lap vanish.

And then, before either of us could say a word, there was almighty thundering on the stairs and Alicia and Ginny came tearing into the room, screaming joyously.

'So, Katie, child-bride friend of mine,' Angelina said with a grin as Ginny and Alicia smothered me with ecstatic hugs, 'whatever shall I wear to your wedding?'

'Anything except your birthday-suit.'

* * *

**Oliver…**

Landing with a thud on the dry Bulgarian earth, I blinked groggily for a moment before emitting a yell as two pairs of hands latched onto a leg each and dragged me into a cave.

'Argh! Geroff me! Geroff me!' I snarled, kicking out and catching someone in the mouth with my boot.

'Argh, _shit_ Oliver!' my injured captor yelled, and I stopped struggling immediately.

Looking up guiltily, I saw Charlie stumble away from me, clutching his mouth, which was dripping blood quite profusely.

'You bloody git!' he grunted, staggering backwards into Fred and George, who sat him down on a rock and took a look at his mouth.

'Sorry Charlie.' I said, getting to my feet and sending an apologetic glance at Bill, who was sighing and rolling his eyes.

'Don't worry about it Oliver, it was an accident,' he said tiredly, massaging his temples gingerly.

Charlie shot me an irritated glare but said nothing.

'Lupin will be here any minute, Charlie, he'll get you fixed up,' said Roger, finishing his tying of a strip of his shirt around his bleeding brow and getting to his feet, stretching.

'I can fix myself up thank you _very_ much,' snapped Charlie in reply, conjuring up a mirror and beginning to heal his torn lip and two cracked teeth.

We sat in grumpy silence for a minute, each tending to his own injuries, before a shadow flickered in the setting sun and we all glanced up to see a willowy figure standing in the entrance to the cave.

I felt my bottom jaw drift downwards and I quickly glanced at Bill to see whether I was only the one suffering this strange lapse of control… I wasn't. The woman standing in front of us was quite likely the most seductive, sensual entity we'd ever seen – topped only perhaps, by Fleur Weasley, Bill's vela wife. But even then, being a man who preferred brunettes, I could definitely beg to differ.

It was only when she'd begun to stride forwards, her long, lithe legs purposeful in their walk, that I remembered that I was in the middle of the war and that she could well be a Death Eater. Drawing my wand shakily, I held it up, nudging Roger at the same time, who seemed to have lost his wits altogether, apparently unable to even remember that he was in fact a wizard, and not a goldfish.

'Who-who're you?' asked Bill, grimacing as he tried to maintain his usual confident tone, 'and what do you want?'

The woman stopped, a small smile drifting across her lovely face.  
'Oh, I am so vary sorry; I am not meaning to alarm any-von. I am Tatiana Cestvina, your Bulgarian contact.'

A flicker of recognition skipped across Bill's blue eyes.  
'Oh. Right. Lupin said something about you…'

Her smile grew wider.  
'Oh yes, Ree-muss, a true gentleman.'

I heard Fred and George snort behind me at her exaggerated pronunciation of "Remus". Biting my tongue, I managed to contain my own laughter, though it was close to escaping when I noticed that Roger _still_ hadn't moved from the position he'd been in when Tatiana had entered the cave: his jaw was still ajar and his eyes seemed like they were ready to pop out of his skull.

'Roger!' I hissed to no avail, winking at the twins who had just noticed his peculiar behaviour and were in silent fits of hysterics about it, 'Roger you bloody git, snap out of it!'

He didn't even move.

Sighing, I started to shuffle towards him, hoping to quietly clip him up the back of the skull to make him regain his senses. Charlie, however, beat me to it. Getting to his feet, he took two steps over and slapped the tall brunette around the face with all the strength he had.

With a startled yelp, Roger blinked groggily, flushing a flaming red when Tatiana glanced at him curiously. Coughing awkwardly, he smiled shyly at her.

'This, um, is Roger,' said Bill with an expression torn between extreme exasperation and amusement, 'and that dolt is Charlie.'

'Vat is a "dolt"?' she asked interestedly, flashing her pearly-whites at Charlie, who scowled at his brother.

'Uh, never mind,' Bill continued hurriedly with a wink at me, 'this here is Oliver, and those two in the corner are Fred and George.'

'Bonjour Cherie,' Fred said with a sweeping bow that was interrupted mid-way by an amused snort from George; snapping back up to full-height, he frowned, 'what?'

'She's _Bulgarian,_ you idiot, not _French_!' his brother hissed with a snigger.

Tatiana laughed merrily.  
'Eet ees vary kind of you anyway.'

'So, um, how can we uh, h-help you?' Roger asked; the grin on his face one he only reserved for when he was looking to score.

She'd only just opened her lovely mouth with a gracious smile at him, when three consecutive cracks resonated through the cave and Lupin, Kingsley and Tonks were standing in front of us. Well, Lupin and Kingsley were anyway, Tonks was sprawled on the ground apologising profusely to Charlie as she'd apparently apparated on his foot.

Not a good day for him so far, I noted.

'Ah,' said Lupin once he'd managed to regain his wits and saw the Bulgarian vision of perfection before him, 'Miss Cestvina, you're here.'

Tatiana, upon hearing her name mentioned, snatched her attention away from Charlie and Tonks, whom she'd been watching intently with traces of amusement on her face, and turned to him, smiling broadly. 'Ah, Ree-muss, how lovely to be seeing you.'

I watched with some interest, as upon hearing her husband being addressed by the Bulgarian woman, Tonks scowled, rolling her eyes in much the same fashion as the twins at Tatiana's exaggerated purr of his name. I was distracted soon after though, by Roger, who nudged me in the ribs, his dark eyebrows raised in that stupid, bloody expression he got whenever he thought he was going to "get some"… an expression that of course, made him look like the git that he was.

'How hot is she, eh?' he hissed, winking at me.

'_Way_ out of your league though, mate,' said someone from behind me, voicing exactly what I'd wanted to say.

'Shut up Weasley,' said Roger, stung, as I turned to see Fred and George smirking behind us, Fred in particular, looking pleased with himself.

'He's got a point though,' I said, knowing I was treading on eggshells but really unable to make myself care, 'I mean, look at her… she's just so…'

'…scary beautiful?' supplied George, grinning as Tonks trumped over to us, her irritated huffs such a stark contrast to the unexplainable grace of Tatiana.

'You think she's beautiful?' she asked, cocking her head to the side as if trying to see it, 'I think she's more Bulgarian-trash, actually.'

'Well someone's not jealous,' said Roger with a grin, never taking his eyes off Tatiana's olive, willowy legs.

'Close your trap, Davies,' said Charlie briskly, striding over to us and standing directly in front of him, 'someone might think you're a goldfish.'

'Too late for that,' remarked Fred, leaning over my right shoulder to push Roger's bottom jaw up with a satisfying snap of teeth against teeth.

While we'd been idly chatting, Lupin, Kingsley, Tatiana and Bill had been deep in conversation, apparently discussing where we were supposed to be stationed. Kingsley, who didn't look too comfortable around Tatiana, wanted to send a couple of scouts to find another more suitable area, but Tatiana was insisting that the cave we were already in was by far the best for us.

Lupin, as usual, was passive, taking both points into consideration carefully and yet unable to decide either way, and Bill was just nodding along, obviously off somewhere else in his head.

'So Oliver, I believe you have some news to share,' said Tonks startling me into directing my attention elsewhere but the adults' discussion, 'Katie opened the gift you left her yesterday.'

The look she had on her face made me slightly uneasy, as though she knew something I didn't, and as Charlie, Roger and the twins waited patiently for me to divulge exactly what on earth she was talking about, I began to feel sick.

What if Katie was going to say 'no'?

'I, um,' not exactly an eloquent start, but the best I had, 'the box, er, I… I proposed to Katie.'

The last part came out in a bit of a hurried rush, but thankfully, I didn't have to say it again.

Grimacing, I frowned slightly as Charlie and Roger gaped at me, astounded.  
'What?'

Fred and George, quickly getting over the shock of the news, began to cheer wildly, clapping me on the back in a comradely fashion.

'Congratulations mate!' cried Fred joyfully.

'Simply splendid old boy!' said George, grinning like a maniac.

Roger still hadn't moved, and it wasn't until Tonks threw him a curious look, that Charlie spoke at all, and even then, it wasn't exactly what I'd hope for.

'Uh, what brought that on… you're pulling a whole panicky "war? Oh no, I better get married" stunt on me, are you?'

It was a good question, there was no denying that, but up until now I hadn't really thought about it… perhaps I really _had_ just panicked? After all, that letter was so hurriedly scrawled that I'd hardly had any time to check the spelling… and maybe I should've asked Katie out on a date first before giving her a ring and all…

As I pondered this, the awkward silence around me so thick you could've cut it with a knife, I noticed the look on Tonks' face had suddenly become quite painfully contorted, as if she was bursting to tell me something. And then, suddenly, I realised… Katie was going to say 'no'.

Oliver Tobias Wood, resident idiot.

* * *

_A/N: lyrics used - "Drive Away, PS I Love You" by the All-American Rejects. title comes from a quote from Sean Biggerstaff's new movie "Cashback", which i sadly have yet to see. have any of you seen it yet? _

**_&&& _**this chapter is dedicated to Kailey-Hamilton with love, hugs and a huge cyber-cookie **_&&&_**

hmm.. so sorry for taking so long to update... i didnt really know where to go with this chapter. speaking of which, its not really the best one ever, i know, but Just-Giddy was being so damn pushy! lol, kidding. i had writer's block and pushed through it, though coming out on the other side with a little less confidence in my work than usual. so hmm.

Ash x


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